“The pile on fire is about 20 feet by 20 feet by three-feet high,” said Plymouth Fire Marshal Andy Mount. “The metal was originally contained in large wooden boxes, 3-foot by 3-foot by 3-foot.”

“They were in the process of moving the boxes of metal with a forklift,” Mount said. “They noticed a fire in one of the boxes and it quickly spread.”

Mount said that plant workers used forklifts to move stacks of empty wooden pallets away from the fire which began in an open paved area between the plant buildings. Firefighters kept people more than 200 feet away from the smoldering fire.

The firefighters used water to put out small fires started among the wooden pallets but kept the water away from the metal fire. Mount said water cannot be used to put out a metal fire because water reacts with burning metal and can explode.

“We’re not putting it out. We’re letting it burn,” Mount said, “because of the nature of the fire. Metal fires are water reactive. It could explode.”

There were no injuries reported.

“When you have a large combustible metal fire the best action is to protect the exposures and let it burn out,” Mount said.

Mount said that any water runoff could carry some of the metal products into the storm sewer and into the river which would result in water pollution.

Lou Spiezio, the Chemalloy plant manager, said that workers were moving the boxes when the fire started.